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Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The Petunia Sting Operation

I was scarred (for years!) by these conniving little Petunias.

Popped over to visit Garden Faerie's magical blog ~ intrigued by her post title: The Story Behind the Name. She was curious about how we came up with our blog names and what's the {sometimes secret} significance to the name we actually chose.

I explained that choosing High Altitude Gardening was boring. A no brainer. Though, I suppose my 'secret' would be that I've always regretted deciding upon it.

Here's the full story ~ the Petunia Sting Operation ~ that's worth a giggle and the background as to why I picked that lame name.

Clumped together, Petunias can be pretty persuasive!

I was house shopping in Park City, Utah ~ which is kind of like window shopping on Rodeo Drive. Me being the poor soul who can barely afford to peer in the window, much less fantasize about buying anything. I'd spent 6 months seeking a non-dumpish house, that fit within my price range, when my real estate agent announced he'd found one that was right up my alley.

I pulled into the driveway of the soon-to-become over-priced Kate mistake ~ and gazed upon an impossible garden. (I didn't know it was impossible at the time.) At least a thousand stunning Petunias were waving in the breeze.

The inside of the house barely registered. All I could see was that gorgeous garden. Bought it on the spot! It wasn't until after we moved in that I realized the house was missing one important item: a bedroom. (Could have swore there was 3, turned out to be 2. But, oh! That garden!)

One less bedroom to clean? Not that big a deal.

Discovering that after an early freeze my impossible garden was dead as a doornail? Well, that was absolutely heartbreaking.

At the time, I did not know Petunias were annuals. And, that all it took was one night of nasty weather and they were done for.

The following spring I started asking plant companies for advice on PERENNIALS that would do well in my high altitude garden. Of course, none of them lived in the mountains. They had no idea what they were talking about and recommended annuals claiming it's impossible to grow perennials at higher altitudes.

Having been burned once I was not falling for that again. Anyone who has hiked a mountain trail can clearly see that perennial flowers are simply delighted to live up here.

Hence the inspiration to spread the word in a blog. Hence that lame blog name so other mountain gardeners could find me. And, the tagline (Growing an impossible garden at 7,000 feet) to constantly remind myself that plant companies aren't the be all, end all, when it comes to advice.

Well, to draw in other mountain gardener's I'd say it worked. The name is part of why I stuck around and explored your blog a bit before falling in love with it :)

I'm not nearly as high up, but my grandfather's garden is on the bountiful bench and it cheered me to see a fellow Utah gardener with such a fabulous garden growing in our ridiculous climate. Despite extreme weather changes, short growing seasons, and odd soil mixes; I'd certainly say that flowers, especially perennials, love our mountains. There are a lot of gorgeous garden's up in the mountains that I get to see on my motorcycle rides.

The title of your blog is perfect. It draws all those seeking to garden in high altitude ... and there are many of us who enjoy your writing and topics. Keep up the great work, and thanks for sharing your gardening experiences.

That's the thing, Deb;We can't change the name later on so an idea that seemed great at the time is one we're stuck with forever after! :)

Anyhoo, there is a grand benefit to names like Deb's Garden. Because the second I see it I just think: Oh, it's Deb! It's more closely associated with the writer than titles that require me to remember names...

Well what is another bedroom to a gardener anyway when the garden is beautiful. Now I can perfectly understand your reasoning. LOL! I love your story Kate.The Holiday red background is so festive and pretty too.